MAG join forces with leading travel publication to educate industry

Manchester Airports Group (MAG) has partnered with a leading industry title, Travel Trade Gazette (TTG), to take part in its nationwide road shows to promote its four airports to the UK.

MAG visited Southampton earlier this month and is set to visit Edinburgh on 24th September, followed by London (14th October) and Liverpool (17th October), with more planned for 2014.

At each location a different MAG airport is showcased to local travel agents and key industry people in the region and offers the perfect opportunity to find out the latest developments on routes and travel options from Manchester, London Stansted, East Midlands and Bournemouth airports.

The free events, called ‘TTG On Tour’, will see approximately 75 travel industry employees attend each location, where they will get to meet key people from MAG and see exactly what they can offer the 42m people that fly from its airports each year.

Jeff Howarth, Marketing Director for MAG said: “We are delighted to be joining up with such an industry leader and we are sure ‘TTG On Tour’ will provide ample opportunities to share all our latest news and plans for our airports with key trade partners. The travel trade are hugely important to us, especially with their fantastic support for local airports. We always welcome their feedback, thoughts and suggestions.

“With a range of initiatives in place for all of our airports, these road shows provide the perfect forum for travel agents to expand their knowledge in a relaxed and informative environment.”

The ‘TTG On Tour’ road shows are also complemented with MAG’s own activity, including its own airline road show in September and regular visits to high street travel agents.

Bournemouth Airport was represented in Southampton, Manchester will be highlighted at Edinburgh and Liverpool, with London Stansted getting the spotlight in London in October.

With over 200 destinations, served by 65 airlines, Manchester Airport is the UK’s third biggest airport and the gateway for the North of the UK. There is a wealth for agents to learn including the airport’s ‘Fly Manchester’ campaign and new routes set to launch later in the year.

The ‘Fly Manchester’ campaign was launched in February with a focus on winning back the four million passengers from the catchment area that currently travel by road or rail to congested London airports, when routes operate a short distance away in Manchester.

Manchester Airport will be of significant interest to people from outside of the North West, especially the Edinburgh road show as Thomas Cook and Flybe will soon start using Manchester Airport as a hub for international flights. Regional connections from Aberdeen, Belfast, Edinburgh, Exeter, Glasgow, Inverness, Isle of Man, Norwich and Southampton, will take passengers (via Manchester) to the Caribbean, Florida, Las Vegas, Mexico and Goa.

Meanwhile London Stansted, with over 150 routes across 34 countries is currently going through an £80m transformation of the terminal to improve the passenger journey through the airport which includes increased security channels and an enhanced retail and food & drink offering.†

MAG took ownership of Stansted in February and have already secured long-term growth deals with Ryanair and easyJet meaning Stansted is set to become the fastest growing UK airport. Thomas Cook have also announced expansion at Stansted for Summer 2014 when they will operate two Airbus A321 and launch 8 new destinations including Corfu, Fuertenventura, Heraklion, Izmir, Kefalonia, Kos, Rhodes and Skiathos.

East Midlands Airport is currently going through major redevelopment with additional retail and food and drink options including a new Frankie and Benny’s restaurant that opened in July. With over 80 destinations, East Midlands recently welcomed the Thomson Dreamliner this summer and is the UK’s number one airport for pure freight, managing approximately 300,000 tonnes a year.

Finally, Bournemouth Airport continues to expand its offering this winter with Ryanair adding six new routes. These include Alicante, Barcelona, Tenerife and Malaga, Lanzarote and Gran Canaria. Winter routes start from October this year.

MAG will hold and attend further trade events in the future. For the latest news sign up to receive newsletters: